Larry Koopa
Larry Koopa (known as Cheatsy Koopa in the cartoons) is the youngest of the Koopalings, a clan of seven siblings1 that act as leaders of the Koopa Troop under Bowser (originally considered his children). Larry has blue hair much like Ludwig, but in a different style. In the Nintendo Power Super Mario World Guide Larry is referred as "Bowser's number one Koopaling"2. Many sources initially claimed he was named after the American talk show host Larry King34. The former Nintendo of America employee Dayvv Brooks, who originally named the Koopalings, claimed instead that Larry was named after Larry Mullen, Jr., the drummer for the rock band U25. All the Koopalings therefore would have been named after musicians. However, Brooks contradicted this in a 2015 interview, stating that Larry was not named after any particular personality6. Role in the series Personality Like the other Koopalings, not much of Larry's personality has been revealed. His trophy description in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS describes him with "aggressive tendencies." While this may reference his short temper in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros 2, this may also have earned him his apparent position as head of the Koopa Troop special forces (which are considered to be the Koopalings themselves in his Super Smash Bros. for 3DS English trophy, his Super Smash Bros. for Wii U U.K. English trophy and his Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Boxing Ring stage screen alias). The North American version of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, however, states he has a "serious case of little-brother syndrome", suggesting that he feels overshadowed by or inferior to his older siblings. He also seems to have an interest in sports, as he uses bombs as bowling balls in Hotel Mario, he uses a tennis racket to hit his own fireballs in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and he performs a special glider trick when riding inward drifting bikes such as the Sport Bike in Mario Kart 8. Despite this interest, he has never appeared in any of the Mario sports games. In the Wii U version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Larry got 'hooked' on Equestrian and can't seem to stop talking about it to the player. The same game and his in-battle sprite in Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam shows that Larry cares about the look of his hair. Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam also implies he may have an interest in video games as Roy, after he and Wendy fail to get Larry to help them says that he is "probably off playing video games or something." New Super Mario Bros. Wii shows that he didn't possess a lot of stamina, as he was quite far behind his family, trying to catch his breath, while his siblings were trying to help Bowser up off the ground. Although, this may be due to the fact that he was residing in World 1, presumably the furthest world from Bowser's Castle in World 8. He also frequently gets dizzy after spinning, as shown in both Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, when he attacks by spinning his shell, and in his 1st place victory animation in the 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games21. In the Japanese manual for Super Mario Bros. 3, Larry speaks in a masculine manner while thinking lowly of the Mushroom World's kings and suggesting he and his siblings only follow orders because they don't want Bowser to yell at them. The official strategy guide for Super Mario Bros. 3 has Larry being depicted as taunting and arrogant, believing Mario won't deduce his weaknesses, and also has a strange accent where he pronounces "th-" syllables with "d" syllables. In Mario is Missing!, Larry even attempts to talk his way out of being defeated by Luigi when sensing that the latter is about to defeat him. In Mario Kart 8, Larry's silhouette could be seen in the Electrodrome race track as a disk jockey, implying that he may have an interest in that profession, or an interest in music in general. His Prima Offical Game Guide bio of the game also states that he is a "cheatsy devil" (which may be a reference to his cartoon counterpart) and an experienced schemer. In volume 41 of "Super Mario-Kun," the Koopaling was accused of being a flirt by Blue Toad, as he and his brother caught Larry for hitting on their mother. In Paper Mario: Color Splash, he is shown to be something of a glutton, as evidenced by his (anonymously) having Mario prepare a massive steak and specifically requesting that he wants the best prepared steak, the fact that he uses the train's chimney to revive stamina via hearts that a Shy Guy was delivering to him, and upon being beaten his deeply considering getting some lamb chops. Like in the instruction booklet for Super Mario Bros. 3, Larry also makes clear that his motives for hijacking the train to get the Orange Big Paint Star is specifically to avoid upsetting Bowser, although in this case, he claims he pities Bowser when he's upset due to citing that his disappointed face was "heartbreaking." When he is defeated, Larry ends up stating he'll have to go on the lam due to failing Bowser, feeling he can't face him ever again, although the term "lam" caused him to think of getting lamb chops. In The Adventures of the Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Super Mario World animated series, Larry was known as Cheatsy Koopa and he was given a personality to match his name, as he was sneaky, unfair, and devious. For example, he attempts to double-cross Bowser in his attempt to obtain the Mushroom Kingdom from Princess Peach in "Never Koop a Koopa". He also eavesdrops on a conversation between Mario and Yoshi in "The Yoshi Shuffle". It is also shown that he enjoys listening to music, as shown in the episode "Never Koop a Koopa", where he is ignoring his father's lecture and listening to music on a set of headphones. He seems to be sarcastic too, as shown in "Gopher Bash", he says Don't just help him! Stand there! to his minions. In the PC version of Mario is Missing!, Larry is shown acting tough as the first guard, but shows cowardice once Luigi gains a Fire Flower and has the potential to destroy him. Like Ludwig, he is also into horror to some degree, as seen in Hotel Mario, since the room that the player fights him in is called "Larry's Scary Lair". His hotel itself is very dark and the entrance states, "THIS MINE IS MINE". Larry's hotel tagline may also indicate a greedy side to him, since the name of the hotel shows that Larry is very possessive of his belongings. While the games don't reveal much about the relationship between Larry and his siblings, both Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam and the 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games reveal that Larry has some kind of admiration for Ludwig, that he tries to imitate although he still isn't able to replicate all his moves without getting dizzy. In the former game, he always fights with Ludwig in the battles and is never seen alone with his other siblings, furthermore he also shows more respect towards him than his brothers, calling him boss and accepting to have him as his lead even after Ludwig's leadership among the Koopalings has been questioned22; in battle he also follows him trying to imitate his moves, but gets dizzy after spinning in the shell7. In the latter game, Larry's 1st place victory animation starts by imitating Ludwig's 2nd and 3rd place victory animation, but after spinning he again gets dizzy2123. Relationships Category:Villains Category:Males